C-Cube aims real-time MPEG-2 codec at consumer Pcs
eet.com
By Junko Yoshida
EE Times
(11/02/98, 1:53 p.m. EDT)
MILPITAS, Calif. — Anticipating that the next big trend for consumer PCs
in 1999 is in DVD-quality video-recording capability, C-Cube
Microsystems is launching DVxplore, a single-chip consumer MPEG-2
codec.
The chip will allow users of next-generation consumer PCs to do everything
from video editing to recording hours of TV programs in a PC's rewritable
DVD or hard disk drives in DVD-quality video. Incorporating full-featured
DVD playback capability including Content Scrambling System copy
protection, DVxplore also decodes DVD disks on a PC.
"We've designed the chip so that it can become a standard on a mainstream
consumer PC — priced around $1,500 to $1,100 next year," said Chris
Day, director of PC marketing at C-Cube (Milpitas, Calif.).
By leveraging the same microSparc core-based DVx architecture used in
the company's other codec products, C-Cube is reducing the price of
real-time MPEG-2 consumer codec to $75.
C-Cube is not alone in its zealous efforts to zero in on the consumer-PC
market with their new MPEG-2 encode/decode silicon. Santa Clara,
Calif.-based startup iCompression Inc., for example, announced in June that
it began sampling its first single-chip MPEG-2 encoding chip — decoding
capability is not included — at $195 in small quantities. Japanese companies
such as Matsushita and Sony are also coming up with their respective
solutions.
C-Cube's Day noted that many PC OEMs are now positioning such video
functions as recording, compressing and storing DVD-quality video in a
PC's storage device as an important feature in their upcoming consumer
PCs. This is pivotal to keeping the interest of PC users already bored with
3-D graphics on a PC.
DVxplore, integrated with a PCI interface, is optimized for PC applications.
While leaving both audio encoding and decoding tasks on a host CPU, the
chip enables a number of PC video applications. They include: MPEG-2
and DV25 video encoding and decoding; dual-stream MPEG decode for
real-time transitions and real-time rendering of special effects;
frame-accurate editing of MPEG-2 and DV25 video; MPEG-1 support for
super low bit rates for Internet Video; DVD playback; and support for both
analog and DV video sources. One of the important features in the
DVxplore is its capability for DV25 to MPEG transcoding. It is particularly
important when consumers connect their DV camcorders to a PC for video
editing. "By transcoding DV to MPEG-2, users can dramatically save the
space on PC's storage device," Day said.
One of the real-time MPEG-2 codec applications on the consumer PCs is
its "intelligent TV and time-shifting" capability. C-Cube's new chip allows six
hours of video recording on 10 Gbytes of HDD, when encoding is done at
an average of 4 Mbit/second in 720 x 480 resolution. Further, DVxplore's
time-shifting capability lets PC users record a TV show, while
simultaneously playing back video from any point in the recording. Users
can replay any scene instantly, or rewind to the beginning of programs while
they are still being recorded.
"It's really exciting to see that we can finally leverage the intelligence of a PC
in digital video recording," said William Chien, product line manager of
PC-encoder products at C-Cube. The variable-bit-rate capability of
DVxplore can be leveraged not only for achieving the best quality video
encoding, but also for making sure one can record an entire program in a
storage space. "Depending on the space constraint, a PC can switch its
video recording to a lower bit rate, so that it can fit a whole program into an
HDD," said Chien.
C-Cube is also working with several applications developers, so there will
be easy-to-use, useful applications to take advantage of DVxplore's
features. Taiwan-based Ulead System, for example, has developed a
full-featured, frame-accurate MPEG-2 editing-application program for
consumer-PC users by exploiting DVxplore's dual-stream and real-time
transitional effects features.
The DVx architecture-based chip features a MicroSparc core running at
110 MHz, custom video DSP and Motion Estimation (ME) coprocessors.
The ME search range covers 416 x 254 pixels. Operating at 1.8 V power
supply, the chip consumes 2 W power.
Fabricated by using a 0.25-micron CMOS process at TSMC in Taiwan,
DVxplore chip is sampling today, with volume production slated for January
1999. |
